1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a recording apparatus. More particularly, the preset invention relates to a recording medium feeding apparatus that is operable to set a plurality of recording medium and feeds the recording medium one-by-one to a downstream, and a recording apparatus that includes the recording medium feeding apparatus. In addition, the present relates to a liquid ejecting apparatus.
Here, the liquid ejecting apparatus includes a printer, a copying machine or a facsimile which performs recording by ejecting ink from the recording head onto the recording medium using an ink-jet type recording head, as well as any apparatus which makes the liquid to be adhered onto an exposed media corresponding to the recording medium by ejecting any type of liquid suitable for a predetermined purpose instead of the ink from a liquid ejection head corresponding to the ink-jet type recording head.
Other than the above-mentioned recording head, the liquid ejection head includes a coloring-material ejection head used for color filter manufacturing such as a liquid crystal display, an electrode material (conductive paste) ejection head used for electrode formation of an organic EL display, a field emission display (FED), etc., and an organic substance ejection head used for biochip manufacture, a specimen ejection head as a precision pipette, and the like.
2. Description of the Related Art
As an example of the recording apparatus, the printer includes an Auto Sheet Feeder (ASF) which can set papers as the recording medium in inclined attitude. The ASF includes a feed roller, a hopper, a guide member, and a separating means. The hopper supports the papers to be in contact with the feed roller or to be separated from the feed roller, and it is possible to change these two states. The guide member includes an edge supporting part for supporting an edge of the papers that is set in inclined attitude, and a guide face for guiding the edge of the papers to a downstream side of the printing, opposed to the feed roller. The separate means separates a top paper that is to be fed in contact with the feed roller from the next papers. (CF. Japanese Patent Laid-Open No.2000-95362.)
Recently, it is desirable to prepare as many papers as possible at one action for the convenience when setting papers. In order to satisfy this requirement, it is necessary to make the clearance between the hopper and the feed roller a wide clearance, and this clearance is generated when the hopper separates from the feed roller. However, if the clearance is wide, the edge of the papers tends to bend when a few papers are set, and consequently the edge of the papers slips on the surface of the supporting part and then enters into a clearance between the feed roller and a guide face. This phenomenon is called “avalanche phenomenon” hereinafter. According to this avalanche phenomenon, the printer tends to feed multi papers with failure.
In addition, if the clearance between the hopper and the feed roller become wide, the attitude of the papers is not constant when the maximum number of the papers is set or the minimum number of the papers is set, and consequently the loads caused by transporting each of the papers is not constant. Therefore it is also desirable to reduce the loads in order to obtain consistent quality of recording.